Saturday, April 13, 2013

Queen's Brian May new project with Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi:

When Queen’s Brian May stopped by to visit the ailing Tony Iommi, not long after Black Sabbath’s guitarist was diagnosed with cancer, he discovered a treasure trove of unused riffs laying around.

That started a brainstorming session among the two, who famously shared the stage at the 1992 concert celebrating Freddie Mercury, Queen’s fallen frontman. May also guested on 2000′s Iommi.

Iommi has since worked through that cancer scare to produce the upcoming Sabbath reunion effort 13, but there remains some intrigue surrounding these song fragments collected on various tapes and a hard drive, according to the Birmingham Mail.

Seems, as their conversation continued, the axemen lit upon the idea of doing something interactive — further developing the tracks together and then offering fans a way to participate in songs with Iommi and May.

Of course, any collaborative project would take place much further down the road. 13 is due in June, marking the first time Iommi has worked in the studio with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978.

Sabbath is also set to undertake a world tour, beginning April 20, 2013, in New Zealand. The dates have been set to accommodate Iommi’s doctor visits, as his cancer treatments continue.

May, meanwhile, has 10 UK concerts scheduled with Kerry Ellis, also to begin in June.

“It’s early days yet, and all my attention in on Sabbath for the foreseeable future,” Iommi told the Mail, “but we may well find some way of working together on them, and making them available in some shape or form.”

May wasn’t so circumspect, enthusing: “You could make your own music with Tony Iommi on guitar! How great is that?”